Chapter Text
Dream watched as his crew hoisted up the net, promptly after they had discovered a small pod of the fish-like creatures in the waters they prowled. He pondered over the events of the last few minutes, after Ranboo had shouted out to the rest of them, 'Merfolk!' and Dream promptly out orders. He held his breath, watching, wondering whether or not another hunt would slip right from their fingers. But then a stroke of luck passed over the crew; they had managed to secure themselves a victory.
He peered over the edge of the railing, the same one he had stood by only a few hours ago, and watched as a glint of dark blue reflected by the sun shone up at him. Within a few minutes, the large bundle was hoisted aboard, and he quickly rushed to the merman's–as he could now tell–side. Unraveling the netting, he raised an amused brow at the sight of the lifeless tuna clutched in his arms.
The merman seemed to be unconscious, and through experience, he knew why. "Alright, act quickly guys. He can't use his lungs. We've got less than a minute to get him in some water, I don't need a death on my hands." Dream took his own part, hoisting him out of the net, holding him by his arms. Sapnap reached for the tail, and the two lifted with a grunt. Jeez, no matter how much he did this it never got easier.
They moved as soon as possible, Callahan making sure the path was clear to the tanks. As they made their way down the stairs carefully but with speed, Dream studied the mer's face.
Dotted blue scales crossed his shoulders and arms, as well as his forehead and upper cheekbones, which were partially covered by his dark hair. Head fins and small forearm fins indicated he was a southern species, which was somewhat surprising considering they were in slightly northern waters. He had a well toned body, no doubt thanks to the amount of swimming it took each day as a merperson. A lighter shade of blue-green—well, more like turquoise—was the color of his skirt, (which Dream presumed to be made of sea silk) and its fabric wound around the man's tail, slightly torn in some places after the scuffle that had occurred earlier.
His tail was long, of course, but shorter than most merfolk he'd seen before. His hands were partially webbed, along with the sharp talon-like fingernails that hadn't quite retracted yet, and were what he could now see where what brought the end of life to the tuna fish.
Dream began to worry they weren't going to reach water in time when the faintest purple color blushed the merman's face, but thankfully it was soon enough they submerged him into the nearest open tank. Any other mer there awake at the time watched with either curiosity or pity.
Dream made sure he was careful placing the man in the glass box. Dream's smile was thin, upset at how little space he could give each of the creatures.
He sighed a little, turning and lowering his mask just enough to wipe the sweat from his brow, before covering it up again and returning to Sap.
"Hopefully he wakes up soon."
"Yeah," was all he said. They both stared at the tank for a minute, before Dream shuffled around and started heading back up. "I'll check back on him later, but he should be fine for now. I doubt we're getting a second in these same waters today, so get ready to stop by the island overnight."
"You got it."
"Oh, and cook up that tuna, will you? He made a nice catch, it would be a shame to let it go to waste."
—————
Sapnap looked out at the boat above him, shivering in the cold water. He wondered where Dream had gone off to, considering he too had wished to go for a swim, but of course he knew not to question his best friend.
Suddenly a splash broke him from his thoughts, and he spit out a bit of water. Whipping around, he gave a playful glare at Wilbur, supposedly the perpetrator. "Oh you're gonna get it now, get back here Wil!" He chased after, fast, but Wilbur's several extra years of experience trumped his own, and the most Sap could do was grab the other's leg.
He grinned wickedly, dragging both of them under the surface. It wasn't long before the rest of the crew joined in, and chaos ensued.
—————
The first thing George thought was 'why didn't I at least drop the fish before getting caught?'
And then he thought 'oh shit.'
That was before he actually realized where he was, and suddenly his eyes grew wide. He swam back, pressing hard against the glass that fully enveloped him. He felt trapped,
trapped, and instincts kicked in for the second time in the last... how long was he out for?
Tail thrashing wildly he cried out: screeching, shrieking, all the like, and it wasn't long before an orange haired head peeked into the room. Calling over his shoulder, the man seemed to shout to someone unseen, "EY Dream, looks like the new guy's up!"
—————
Dream watched as the merman slept peacefully, recalling the events from earlier today. After calming down the handful that was the scared creature in front of him, they'd managed to get him to sleep- as to how, that was unbeknownst to even Dream. Perhaps he simply slept easily.
The pirate was content at the moment, knowing that he could wait before talking to the merman. Having caught him in the first place was rather a miracle, and he looked around to the other tanks nearby. Only three other mer were on board at the moment, one of which stared at him with a burning intensity so forceful he could have sworn it was the sun itself. The other two were fast asleep, just like the one he stood next to.
Well, apparently the newcomer wasn't as 'fast asleep' as he had originally thought, because the next thing he knew he heard a noise behind him. The telltale sign of a mer nearby: mermish. Well, incoherent mermish; the kind of screeching and whining only one of their kind could decipher. Dream winced at the sudden loud noise, turning to face the blue-tailed man.
He looked frightened, but not so much to allow himself to be thrown into another instinctual fit like before. Dream smiled gently, and watched curiously as the other attempted to back away.
"I see you're finally awake." He said simply. No reply. Not that he was particularly expecting one.
"Not a talker, I see. Well, you don't have to speak now, that can wait. Until then, let me introduce myself. I'm Dream, but you’ll address me as Captain."
—————
George awoke suddenly, not as startled as he had been before, but certainly surprised. He took in his surroundings quickly, before his eyes widened at the figure in front of him. Backing away he hit the glass closing him in, and his webbed hands pressed against it as if trying to grip onto something.
The man turned, and George was frozen with shock for a moment as he took in his features- the dirty blonde hair fallen just slightly over a white mask, entirely covering his face. He wasn't quite sure what to think of that, but it passed his mind soon enough as he looked down and realized...he was standing. This man had legs! He'd never seen them before, only having heard of the strange land-walker appearance from when he was younger.
One thing was clear: legs were weird. And to top it off, he wore a shirt, and some weird version of a skirt that went all the way down to what he recalled were named 'shoes.' George wondered how in Poseidon's name such a hideous skirt could be comfortable, but it was a human thing, after all.
Suddenly the nameless person spoke, and he was snapped out of his thoughts by the uncommon yet familiar language coming from his tongue. English. George was fluent, only because he had been forced to study.
Most mer learned the basics at a young age, but many chose not to bother at all. It was a tradition, however, that hunters like himself, be taught English. It had something to do with the older days when humans and mer were still on decent terms, and the travelers of the pods would regularly converse with humans for trade and alliance Of course, in the new age, only once in perhaps a century could a mer gain the chance to see a human, let alone
to one.
For once though, it paid off. He was certainly rusty, but his ears twitched as he picked apart each sentence and carefully reconstructed it in his own tongue.
He grimaced at the welcome, practically already fearing for his life. He sounded so cruel... who was he kidding, of course this 'Dream,' as he called himself, was cruel. George was sitting in the confines of a tank barely larger than himself, awaiting a slow and painful death. What was he expecting, tea parties and weddings galore?
The man continued, acting as if this was all completely normal.
And then he realized just where exactly he was- or rather, what else was nearby.
else was nearby. His stomach dropped, zoning out the land-walker, as he took in the 3 other mer just like him, all in separate tanks, in separate cells, just as trapped as he was.
So clearly this was normal for him.
George gulped, now not only fearful for himself, but the others with him. How long had they been here? Did there used to be more? What would happen to him?
"I see you've noticed my friends." George watched the man, an innocent smile playing on the mask. He growled as Dream took a step forward, quieting slightly when this ‘Captain’ put his hands up in mock surrender.
"Perhaps you two can get acquainted." Dream added, gesturing to the tank nearest George. He looked over, eyes meeting a pair of dark brown eyes, and indigo scales to compliment. It was a fleeting moment however, as his attention was turned back to the white smiley face. "I suppose I should let you rest some more, I don't like to throw newcomers into the business side of things for a few days, you know."
His face paled, wondering what kind of things might entail from the 'business side of things.' Before he could delve into it further though, he was met with a goodbye wave in his face, which George would not return. His eyes followed the figure as he walked away and up the stairs.
After he was sure the man was gone and would not come back, for the time being, he looked back at the merman in his sight, curious. As if reading his mind, the other came up out of the water to rest his arms and head on the edge of the glass, a big smile playing on his face. Then he spoke, a thick, northern mermish accent coming out.
"Hi! I'm Quackity."
—————
A week had passed.
A full week of absolutely nothing.
George was completely and utterly bored.
The only company he had were the 3 other mer there, all having been captured before him. Quackity, he learned, had been taken from his home in northern Las Nevadas, and had been in this captivity for the longest out of everyone else.
Next, there was Hannah. She had only been caught a few days prior to George, but was pretty friendly. The merman found her taste in clothing to be a bit odd, because instead of traditional sea silk, her skirt was made of woven kelp. It wasn't that he'd never seen kelp used as fabric material before, but rather that faded flower petals decorated her entire person. He was unsure of what type of flower, the petal shape unknown to him. Perhaps they were of human origin, though how she had gotten her hands on them he had no idea.
Lastly, Foolish. He had a bright gold caudal fin tail, showing his roots to be that of a shark, rather than dolphins as most mer. His skirt of darker yellow flowed around him, noisy and extravagant in taste. George found it a bit excessive, knowing it must not be comfortable to swim in, but he appreciated the merman's talent for design.
George's tank was closest to Quackity, so the two had quickly become friends. He had learned the other merman was very chaotic, to say the least. Certainly a talkative person.
The four of them would converse whenever a human wasn't around, but George learned how silent the others got around them. It was understandable however: he didn't have a particular willingness to share anything with his kidnappers either.
They weren't fed the greatest, but it was enough to get by with a mer's fast metabolism.
The second day George had been there, Dream and some other man had come down to this level of the ship for whatever reason, and although George was still half asleep, he remembers overhearing a few words exchanged between the two in English.
—
"So they're asking for the girl?"
"Yes. As for the gold one, he seems insistent on his ability to work for us. Something about knowing how to create valuable merfolk fabric, according to the English speaker." This was the one George didn't know of, and noted how he also wore a mask- not the same kind as Dream, but an oddly shaped one that covered just from his eyes to his mouth.. It had two black, circular things attached to either side of his mouth, and some type of goggles attached for the eyes.
"Hmm, get him to translate more for the guy, see if there's any truth behind that. As for our newcomer, there's no demand for another merman at the moment, so I have a few ideas..."
"What might those be, captain?"
George's ears twitched at the mention of him, he assumed at least, and he tried his best to stay still.
Dream watched George's tank, the black smile on the white mask boring into his soul. "He's a pretty one..."
"...deep blue scales are in demand, what do you think?"
George sucked in a breath, hoping nobody heard the slight gasp coming from him. Thankfully, humans didn't have the best of hearing, so as far as he knew, Dream hadn't noticed.
The other responded, following Dream's gaze to the merman. "He looks healthy enough, should I get Wilbur to inspect them?"
"Sure, but if he puts up any trouble tell him to let me know and I'll get on it myself."
The two left shortly after that, and George hadn't seen Dream since.
—
That 'Wilbur' fellow had come by just a few days after that, and George had managed to put up enough of a fuss for the tall fellow to give up. He was pretty satisfied with himself over that, and should the mask man follow up on his word, George planned to do the same thing.
The one thing he worried over was what could happen to him. They wanted his scales, for Merlin's sake! Whether that meant simply taking them or killing him all together, he didn't know. He wasn't too keen about either situation, for obvious reasons.
If his scales weren't up to par, would they kill him anyway? Or would he be sold like a slave? Or would they have some other use for him, supposedly like Foolish?
Suddenly a creaking could be heard, and George tuned his ears in to listen. It was Wilbur and Dream, conversing at the top of the steps.
"He's...wild one...know."
"I'll be fine...got this."
"I know I...careful, is...saying."
Wilbur left, from what George could hear, but he was caught off guard as Dream suddenly stood in front of him. Had he really been lost in his thoughts for that long? Nonetheless, he shrieked, and Quackity gave him a look of sympathy.
Amidst initial shock, one thing was new- Dream's mask only covered the majority of his face, but his chin and mouth could be seen. George wondered why he'd chosen to wear it higher up today, but then scolded himself for worrying about unimportant matters such as that.
"Woah there, calm down. I haven't even done anything yet." George cocked his head a little to the side, somehow knowing things would be easier if he listened to the man.
"I'll get to the point. You were a bit stubborn when it came to Wilbur, so I need to do this myself." The last bit seemed to be directed at no-one in particular.
"I need one of your scales. I'd rather not do this the hard way, so I suggest you think this through before making any rash decisions, would you?"
George looked at him innocently, feigning confusion. He spoke back in harsh mermish, spitting words he knew the pirate wouldn't know.
"I'd rather kiss you than give my scales up, and that's saying something." Quackity snickered, clearly listening in a bit.
The captain narrowed his eyes at George, flickering to Quackity momentarily and quickly shutting up the mer.
"Alright, don't play dumb with me. You were hunting when I caught you, so you must have an inkling of English in there somewhere. Hunter's know English. Don't think I don't know your culture's tradition."
George's mouth gaped open as he looked over at Quackity momentarily for answers. He replied in mermish "I don't know, he did the same thing to me." George scowled, turning back to his captor.
Reluctantly, he pried his brain for the dialect he was just barely familiar with, and managed to scrape up a sentence decent enough. He stuck his head about the water to be understood, actively adjusting to his lungs to better suit the outside environment. "How you know this?"
He merely chuckled, continuing on. "There it is. Now that I've coaxed you out of that shell of yours, how about an introduction?" George shut his mouth tight, refusing to give anything in. To learn a merman's name was a privilege, and if this person believed he could simply ask, he was a fool.
"Ah, of course, of course. Oh well, I wasn't expecting much. These 3 haven't shared either, after all." A gesture towards the other tanks explained.
A smile played on his features as he continued. "Now, back to my original thoughts- shall we do this the easy or the hard way?"